


Recovery and Reconstruction 1 -- Thunder and Lightning

by Viola_Laterra



Series: Recovery and Reconstruction [1]
Category: The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Genre: Canonical Character Death, F/F, Flashbacks, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Interspecies Relationship(s), Interspecies Romance, Lost Love, Post-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-05
Updated: 2019-03-05
Packaged: 2019-11-12 02:32:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,737
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18002132
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Viola_Laterra/pseuds/Viola_Laterra
Summary: Zelda and Link begin to travel Hyrule after defeating the Calamity.  On the way to speak to the King of the Zoras, Zelda is unintentionally reminded of Urbosa and their past relationship.  The grief of losing her is overwhelming, but at least Link is there to help.





	Recovery and Reconstruction 1 -- Thunder and Lightning

Zelda and Link traveled to Zora's Domain slowly. Zelda had said they ought to take their time; after all, she hadn't seen these places for a hundred years. Really, though that was true -- it was easier on her to slowly absorb how everything had changed -- the real reason was that she remembered that Link and Mipha had been close. They were making the journey in order to tell Mipha's father about how she had died, and how her spirit had survived all these years, and how she had been key in defeating the Calamity.

So... though Link still spoke little (that hadn't changed, she thought wryly), Zelda could tell he was getting sadder and sadder as they got closer to Mipha's people.

She almost wanted to ask him about it; but every time she thought she'd say something, she'd chickened out. This relationship was still so new for them... she'd been alone, trying to hold Ganon from the world, for so long... to actually be in the flesh again... it was both tiring and exhilarating. And though she and Link had been close, by the time of the war, it had taken quite a lot of his silent persistence for her to warm to him, back then. It wasn't taking as long, now, but it still wasn't quite easy between them yet.

And often enough, just as she'd worked up the momentum to ask how he was doing, or if he wanted to say any words to Mipha's father, a stray band of monsters would interrupt and attack them. There were no more blood moons; so when they killed the monsters, they'd stay dead. She could feel the truth of that in her bones. Where there had been a constant sense of Ganon's malevolence, at the back of her mind, endlessly refueling the resurrection of the monsters, now there was just a kind of calm cool feeling. They weren't even all that difficult to fight, anymore: the dregs of the Calamity's malice.

So it took her by surprise in more than one way when they ran into a Lynel... a fierce lion-centaur who took all their concentration to defeat. And just as she was about to dart in to cast a spell at it, Link looked a warning at her, and she held back. She knew to read his signals, they'd been fighting alongside each other for long enough.

The Lynel itself had been a surprise. But the thing that took her breath away was the moment when Link slew it. Because he didn't just stab it. He stood away at an angle, crouched for a moment, an energy aura building around him, and then he snapped his fingers and lightning crackled around him in a circle. Then, while the Lynel was stunned and twitching from the lightning, Link struck it in the chest with the sword, the one that had sealed the darkness.

But it was the stance, the snap of the fingers... the lightning. Urbosa.

In fact, she'd shown Zelda that very technique. She'd called it "Urbosa's Fury." How could Link do this? Zelda tried for a moment to work out logically how Urbosa could have passed this ability on to Link, but then she was senseless with grief.

She'd been holding it in, all this time, the loss of her friends, the Champions. She'd let the grief out once, as they were fleeing, just before Link was fatally struck and she'd finally found her power. But other than that, she'd been holding it all inside, just as she'd been holding the Calamity inside, away from the world. Away from herself.

But seeing Link express Urbosa's style so perfectly... a thousand memories of the time she'd spent with the Gerudo came flooding back. And the tears came flooding with them.

Zelda had made a point of spending time with each of the Champions and their Divine Beasts. Research. Preparation. The only things she *could* do, since she still had no idea how to call on the power that was her birthright.

But she'd been spending more time with Urbosa, if she was honest with herself. At first she thought it was because Urbosa felt like an older sister to her... but eventually, it started to become clear to her that wasn't all of it.

Urbosa had a way of disarming Zelda when she was at her most self-critical. Catching her off-guard and opening her up. Lightening her seriousness. Playing pranks. At first, Zelda had been cross with her for the levity, for the pranks.

But then there'd been a moment where they'd been sitting inside Vah Naboris, as they often did at sunset. The way the sun went down in the desert was always the most dramatic, Zelda thought.

Urbosa had insisted on training that day, even in the heat. Zelda was exhausted. Vah Naboris was quiescent, unmoving. Urbosa seemed to realize that Zelda needed rest. And maybe that was why the conversation had gone as it had, which is to say, serious rather than joking.

Urbosa said, "You did well today, princess."

Zelda looked over at her from the set of cushions she was resting on. "Thank you, Champion. Your training is grueling. It is sure to make me a better person, even if I cannot keep up with you."

Urbosa laughed, eyes dancing. She sat up from her cushions, looked down at an angle at Zelda. Gerudo were so much taller than Hylians, and she seemed larger than life, as Zelda looked back up at her.

Then Urbosa said, "Well, you'll have some tools at your disposal, when the Calamity comes. Other than your fancy Sheikah devices." She said the word "devices" with a little sourness.

Zelda tried to summon the energy to be defensive. "What's wrong with devices? The wisdom of the ancients is incredible. And Vah Naboris is one giant device. We wouldn't have a chance if..." she trailed off. That line of thinking would only take her downwards. She tried to avoid it.

Urbosa caught something of Zelda's emotion before she could stifle it, and said a little flatly, "Devices are fine. But they don't replace spirit."

Zelda tried to answer, but something about the way Urbosa had said it had touched the exact place she was trying to avoid. She couldn't help tears trailing down her cheeks.

Urbosa surprised her by moving to sit next to her. Gerudo were certainly plenty physically affectionate with each other. But Zelda'd not been close enough friends with one to experience it. She was always the Hylian princess to everyone in the Gerudo village. When she trained with Urbosa, they didn't get this physically near each other, usually... and now that she was, Zelda could feel heat radiating from Urbosa's skin. Hotter than any Hylian she'd sat near. She tried to think about why that would be, and how they could survive in the heat if their internal homeostatic temperature was that high...

But Urbosa put her arms around Zelda, cutting off her thought process. The heat of her skin was uncomfortable for a split second, but then shifted to pleasant, like the way sitting in a hot spring relaxed muscles and warmed bone. Zelda felt instantly reassured, and instantly sensitized to touch in a way she'd never felt before. She wasn't able to focus on any of that, though, because Urbosa said quietly, in Zelda's ear, "Come now, princess. You can't carry the weight of the world, alone."

Zelda stammered through her fading tears, "I-I... B-but, I must find my power. My birthright. The world will depend on it, when we face the Calamity. Wh-what if my spirit isn't strong enough?"

Urbosa drew her close, made a sort of shushing, purring sound. Zelda would learn later that this was what Gerudo did to soothe their children, but sometimes adults, loved ones, as well. Urbosa said, "I know you well enough, even now, to tell you that your spirit is strong enough. You just need to find your way."

Zelda sniffled. "But I feel like I'm always trying to find my way, and I never can."

Urbosa reached up to stroke Zelda's cheek, then to trace the edge of her ear, from lobe to point, before leaning back to take Zelda's hands. Her touch electrified Zelda, as if she'd used her lightning. And the look in Urbosa's eyes wasn't maternal. Zelda said to herself that Gerudo culture could just be different; she mustn't over-interpret signals. Later she'd learn that she hadn't over-interpreted anything; but in that moment it was only an inkling.

"The struggle is worth it," Urbosa told her. "It makes you a better person, even if you don't achieve your goal." She squeezed Zelda's hands, and as the sun completed its travel below the horizon, it quickly became very cold sitting on the deck of the Divine Beast.

 

And suddenly Zelda snapped back to the present. It was Link's hands on hers. He was looking steadily into her face, concerned. She tried to smile at him, and partly succeeded.

"L-link, how can you? How is it you know Urbosa's..." she couldn't quite get the words out.

He shook his head at her. She knew it meant he wasn't sure how to explain. But she realized that each Champion must have been able to impart a power to him. Some part of his destiny, she thought. What a gift, to have retained those powers after having defeated the Calamity. To be able to remember their friends in this way.

She was momentarily jealous, but then settled back into a place of peace. She was not really sad that her power seemed to have faded now. It didn't seem to have a use any longer, and all it reminded her of was that she had not been able to use it in time... she had been unable to save them. Only Link. And here he was now, trying to reassure her. In that moment, she was certain of two things: first, that nothing could ever relieve her loss, of her friends, of Urbosa. And second, that she was utterly and completely grateful not to have lost Link, too.

She saw him smile tentatively, knew he was matching her own wavering smile. It was a way to say to each other that things would be all right, in time. She nodded to him emphatically, and stood. He followed suit, and they continued their journey.

**Author's Note:**

> This assumes that Link can still use the Champions' abilities after defeating the Calamity. I haven't actually played enough to find out if this is true. Also, briefly looking over Urbosa's journal from the DLC, the implication is that the relationship between Urbosa and Zelda is essentially maternal/sisterly... but I prefer an interpretation that leaves more space for both a familial sort of attachment, and some level of intimacy that I deliberately left vague. I like the idea that consensual emotional and physical intimacy might not fall neatly into categories, and this might be one of those cases.  
> (Written 25-28 February 2019.)


End file.
